When is the right time to apply

[Rachele]

I am currently in my Jr. year at University of Illinois at Chicago. In spring I can graduate with an Applied psychology degree. I have a year of research experience but none in the area of psychology I hope to enter (my experience is in cognitive and I hope to enter a community program). My extracurriculars and my letters of rec are outstanding. I am contemplating graduating this year with one BA or staying an additional year to finish up my degree in Crime, Law and Society (if I stay to get the second degree I can boost up my GPA). My question is would it be better to go to school and get a second degree or take a year of school off work as a research assistant in my field for a year then apply. (Irregardless I want to apply in 2012).

Any thoughts or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[DariaIRL]

I'll take a shot at this..

Will your second BA help you find the grad program you want? Yes it will boost your GPA (how low was it to begin with? Compare with admissions statistics of the schools you're looking at), but does having the extra degree/knowledge/networking make you competitive in the grad program that you'll be applying to? Will the extra work/year in obtaining the second degree involve research experience or faculty who can write a good LOR?

What kind of grad program do you want to join? If it's more research centric, then perhaps the graduate now with 1 degree and spend 1 year as a research assistant will make you more confident/competitive when you apply.

[TheDude]

I don't have a clue. I've pounced around these forums for 2 years and here is how February and March goes:

• People with perfect scores get in to their dream school
• People with far from perfect scores get in their dream school
• People who sound perfect don't get in anywhere
• People without a ton of research experience get in somewhere
• People with a bunch of research experience get in no where
• Some people who have good stats just get into Master's programs

Common logic would say to build a relationship with a potential POI and apply. Having relevant research experience is a major plus, but nothing is guaranteed.

I'd apply

[fuzzylogician]

If your options are (as I understand them):

- get research experience in relevant field

- get degree in not-so-relevant field

then I think you should go for the research experience.

Is your GPA currently low? Would a higher GPA will be a significant boost to your application, even though it's not in your major?

I'd guess that unless your circumstances are very unusual, the extra degree will not be as helpful as more research experience.